Monday, 21 September 2009

Back and on the roller coaster again

On Saturday lunchtime, as we waited to board the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead, I received a text message from my brother informing me that Mum had had a fall and was in A&E at Arrowe Park Hospital, which is about 15 miles from where we live, waiting for the results of an x-ray. I have lost count of the number of falls that she has had. She has been like a cat with nine lives. Until now she has got away with nothing more that minor cuts and bruises. Her luck must have run out. Then just after we had arrived in Holyhead I had a phone call from him. Mum had broken a bone at the bottom of her back and the hospital would be keeping her in. He then went on to tell me that the consultant who had seen Mum had said that when she was able to be discharged, that she would need nursing care rather than residential care. The residential home that she is in had said that they would not have her back if she needed nursing care and that the nursing home on the same site as the residential home did not have a vacancy. It seemed to me as if I was going to be spending the next few weeks looking for another home for Mum, when I was not busy driving the 30 mile round trip to visit her at the hospital. Why hadn't they taken her to the nearby Countess of Chester Hospital, which is about three miles from where we live? The signal on my mobile phone in the Holyhead area of Wales was almost non-existent, so I was concentrating on listening to what my brother said and not really analysing what he was saying. It was not until we had got back to the cottage that it registered with me that the home have to give four weeks notice if they can no longer cope with my Mother. They can not just decide that they don't want her.

On Sunday morning, after about 15 minutes on the phone I managed to find the ward that my Mother was in and was very surprised and somewhat relieved to be told that she was being discharged back to the residential home later in the day!

16 comments:

That sounds quite a carry on.Sorry your mother had the fall and that you had to come back from a holiday only to find that you had to sort this out immediately.However glad that your mother is now back in the residential home. Is it for keeps?

My (extremely limited) experience of events like this seem to show that what appear to be big, life-changing, exhausting events peter out to be nothing ... or at least, nothing so significant. I hope your mum is feeling much better and that if the residential home can't keep her a space becomes available quickly at the nursing home. All fingers are crossed for you!

You've been through the mill with your mum's mishaps. I'm sorry to hear she has fallen again, it has to be a tremdous worry to you.Thankfully, it was not anything worse, maybe they need to keep a closer watch on her, or give her an escort of sorts.My thoughts are with you, and your mum for a speedy recovery .Hugs,Jo

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About Me

In 2003 my fifty something husband and I relocated from Surrey to Cheshire. In 2004 we bought a Victorian cottage in need of renovation. Now that is about done we are hoping to enjoy some of the finer things in life along with the inevitable running repairs and gardening.